This award, made through the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, provides support for the acquisition of an X-ray diffraction (XRD) system, as well as a mixer/mill for sample preparation. This equipment will be used to explore connections between clay mineralogy and geomorphic processes that are important in understanding and predicting landscape response to natural and anthropogenic stressors. The XRD system is an important addition to Sweet Briar College's science facilities and will enhance its ability to recruit and train undergraduate women to be effective scientists through participation in hands-on laboratory projects and research in environmental science, archaeology, and physics. One research project enabled by this award will use XRD to determine the provenance of fine-grained reservoir sediment within a large but well-studied watershed. This information will be used to investigate how the primary areas of erosion in the watershed changed over time in response to logging and storm-triggered landslide events. A second project will explore the influence of clay mineralogy and other petrologic and physical properties of alluvium on stream bank stability, cohesion, and form. The focus will be on eastern U.S. streams with bank materials having simple clay mineralogy dominated by a single mineral but will also include some streams with mixed mineralogy.
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